Not long ago we completed the delivery of a Toyota RAV4, 2025, from San Francisco, CA, to Portsmouth, VA. The transport route was 2,974 miles on a flatbed and cost us $1,550.00, which means $0.52 per mile.
It must be noted that the car in question was operational when picked up. Recently, we published the price of a 1950 Oldsmobile for $0.58 per mile, stating that it’s the lowest price that can be obtained for this type of service. The current delivery falls under this mark and there’s a specific reason for it.
The route
The 2,974-mile drive is made between San Francisco and Portsmouth, which runs through the entire country, from the Pacific coast to the Chesapeake.
Drivers start their journey in San Francisco from the east, passing over the Bay Bridge and getting on I-80 to Sacramento via the Sierra Nevada through Donner Pass into Nevada.
I-80 will be used for the major part of the trip. I-80 passes Nevada through Reno and Elko, then through Salt Lake City, Utah, Wyoming through Rock Springs and Cheyenne, Nebraska and Iowa from Omaha and Des Moines to Chicago.
Then, the journey continues eastward along I-80 through Indiana and Ohio, joining the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Harrisburg. The route continues to the south from there using I-83 to Baltimore and then I-95 to Richmond, Virginia.
I-64 completes the eastward trip to Williamsburg and Newport News and then Hampton Roads. Portsmouth is located across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk.
The easiest possible load
Such a rate isn’t a discount but rather an outcome of a delivery that doesn’t place any special requests to anyone at any time.
Nearly three thousand miles. The pickup, loading, securing, coordinating, and delivering services take almost equal effort on any delivery and are distributed between 2,974 miles, reducing their portion down to minimum possible.
Open transportation. There are more vehicles used per delivery and much more trucks moving, and the difference grows even more in such a distance.
One single position, and it is also relatively small. The RAV4 crossover is relatively small at only 181 inches in length. It is smaller than the previous owner of the lowest rate 1950 full-sized sedan.
There is nothing that requires maintenance on the truck. It rolls up and it rolls down; it sits level to ride height; it has clear-coat paint rather than fifty-year-old paint. No liftgate, no winch, no one-time handling at each end.
Two real markets. The Bay Area and Hampton Roads are two places that provide constant vehicle activity, and I-80 is the main northern transcontinental road. No detours were taken.
That is the actual lesson. The floor is not a target. It is the result of the market acting with everything working in favor of that outcome, and asking won’t move the quote towards it on a load where they don’t.
The range now reads $0.52 to $3.71
We have come up with numbers covering a range that is more than seven times on the same exact service.
Here at the bottom is this shipment. Longest distance, open trailer, a newer small vehicle, two loaded stops, none requiring any special equipment.
And here at the top is this 518 mile run of an enclosed Corvette to West Texas at $3.71. Shortest distance, enclosed, lift gate required, distant destination.
Everything in between. That’s why we say the per mile number is meaningless without comparing it to another similar job, and why the total matters.
Open transport
The RAV4 was transported on a flatbed trailer, which is how the great majority of cars in this country are transported.
This is a current production compact SUV with a factory clear coat. There is enclosed transport for cars that a rock chip will actually mean something to financially, but for 2,974 miles the cost of enclosed would have been significant for a vehicle that doesn’t need it. That is what we said.
Ground clearance was never an issue. The securing of the car utilized soft straps around the tires and not chains around the suspension like we do on all vehicles.
Transport summary
- Origin: San Francisco, CA 94114
- Destination: Portsmouth, VA 23704
- Distance: 2,974 miles
- Service cost: $1,550.00
- Cost per mile: $0.52
- Vehicle: 2025 Toyota RAV4
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Open
- Route: San Francisco, CA → I-80 east over the Bay Bridge → Sacramento → over Donner Pass → Reno and Elko, NV → Salt Lake City, UT → Cheyenne, WY → Omaha, NE → Des Moines, IA → Chicago, IL → I-80 east across Indiana and Ohio → Pennsylvania Turnpike → Harrisburg, PA → I-83 south to Baltimore, MD → I-95 south to Richmond, VA → I-64 east through Williamsburg and Newport News → Portsmouth, VA
